Tuesday, May 1, 2012

So a couple of nights ago I'm browsing Youtube and come across some videos of people opening up THE AVENGERS "Grab Zags" and immediately I was pumped. I had no idea these were out (especially in the states)! I soon found out Wal-Greens was carrying them, and I went out the next day on the hunt.

The blind packaged toys are not only figures, but also mini skateboards, and disc shooters.

Uninterested in the boards and shooters, I felt around for what I thought were the figures, and among what I ended up with, were eight packages. One did turn out to be a shooter, and one turned out to be a skateboard. The other six however, were the mini figures, and some how I managed to pull NO doubles at all!!!Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, Black Widow, Nick Fury, and Hawkeye all made their way home with me, and onto my shelf with their Japanese gashapon comic inspired cousins (which I've also reviewed here). Only missing Loki and Hulk, I do plan to go back soon, or possibly use eBay to procure them.

These figures, as you might imagine are based on the upcoming Avengers movie, and not the comics... Not having seen the movie yet, from what I can tell ZAG did a pretty good job with the sculpts, and retailing for $1.99, not too bad on the paint apps either.

Each figure comes with a clear stand that pegs into their back, and into the interlocking base.

The only downside is, that while their Japanese counterparts had rigid, hard plastic clear stands (that have NOT bent one bit)... these stands seem to be much softer, and more prone to bending.

The biggest offenders of this problem, for me are Black Widow, Iron Man, and Nick Fury. It's a shame too, because I really do want to keep these on my shelf. Unfortunately though, I found Black Widow first, with the clear stand obscenely bent, and toppled over.

I'm not sure why, perhaps just due to cost that the hard plastic wasn't used... but I'm extremely disappointed that after only a few hours of display, the stands just can't handle the weight of the figures.

But still, at just a buck ninety-nine, they're pretty cool. While I dig 'em, and I'm happy they were released... I really hope ZAG at least can release online, some clear stands for these that can adequately hold the figures up. Is it really practical? Do I think they will? No, I'm sure it's only wishful thinking on my part... but I'd pay the extra cash myself if it meant these could join the others I have. For collectors, it's bittersweet that such neat mini-figures of some of our favorite heroes can hit the market, only to fall short in the end.

More photos below, enjoy!

Thanks for reading!

P.S. - ZAG Toys, if you're reading this, PLEASE take care of the stand issue in whatever way you can. I'd hate for this to leave a bad taste in other people's mouths, and us never get any other Marvel inspired mini's from you folks.